Refrigerator appliance with smart door alarm

Abstract

A refrigerator appliance includes a cabinet defining a food storage chamber with a door movably coupled to the cabinet whereby the door is movable between a closed position and an open position. A method of operating the refrigerator appliance may include, or the refrigerator appliance may be operable for, receiving an intentional door open input and disabling a door alarm of the refrigerator appliance in response to the intentional door open input. Such methods or operations may further include automatically re-enabling the door alarm after disabling the door alarm.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of operating a refrigerator appliance, the refrigerator appliance comprising a cabinet defining a food storage chamber with a door movably coupled to the cabinet whereby the door is movable between a closed position where the food storage chamber is at least partially enclosed by the door and an open position where the door permits access to the food storage chamber, and a sensor operable to detect a presence and identity of a user, the method comprising:
 downloading an initial version of an intentional door opening detection software from a remote server; 
 detecting an opening of the door after downloading the initial version of the intentional door opening detection software from the remote server; 
 obtaining an input with the sensor after detecting the opening of the door, the sensor comprising a camera assembly, the input comprising an image of the user; 
 determining the identity of the user by comparing the image of the user to a stored image of a known user; 
 determining that the opening of the door was intentional, wherein determining that the opening of the door was intentional comprises receiving a user input that indicates the opening of the door was intentional; 
 disabling a door alarm of the refrigerator appliance temporarily based on the determination that the opening of the door was intentional; 
 transmitting the input obtained from the sensor and the identity of the user to the remote server from the refrigerator appliance after determining that the opening of the door was intentional; 
 building an updated version of the intentional door opening detection software by the remote server based on the input obtained from the sensor and the identity of the user; and 
 transmitting the updated version of the intentional door opening detection software from the remote server to the refrigerator appliance. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user input comprises an intentional door open mode selection received prior to detecting the opening of the door. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising activating the door alarm after detecting the opening of the door, wherein the user input is received after activating the door alarm. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising detecting a subsequent opening of the door after transmitting the updated version of the intentional door opening detection software from the remote server to the refrigerator appliance, obtaining a second input with the sensor after detecting the subsequent opening of the door, and determining that the subsequent opening of the door was intentional, wherein the step of determining that the subsequent opening of the door was intentional comprises analyzing the second input obtained from the sensor with the updated version of the intentional door opening detection software. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the camera assembly is positioned and configured for monitoring the food storage chamber and an area in front of the cabinet that is contiguous with the food storage chamber. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , wherein the camera assembly comprises an infrared camera. 
     
     
       7. A refrigerator appliance, comprising:
 a cabinet defining a food storage chamber; 
 a door movably coupled to the cabinet whereby the door is movable between a closed position where the food storage chamber is at least partially enclosed by the door and an open position where the door permits access to the food storage chamber; 
 a sensor operable to detect a presence and identity of a user; and 
 a controller, the controller operable for:
 downloading an initial version of an intentional door opening detection software from a remote server; 
 detecting an opening of the door after downloading the initial version of the intentional door opening detection software from the remote server; 
 obtaining an input with the sensor after detecting the opening of the door, the sensor comprising a camera assembly, the input comprising an image of the user; 
 determining the identity of the user by comparing the image of the user to a stored image of a known user; 
 determining that the opening of the door was intentional, wherein determining that the opening of the door was intentional comprises receiving a user input that indicates the opening of the door was intentional; 
 temporarily disabling a door alarm of the refrigerator appliance based on the determination that the opening of the door was intentional; 
 transmitting the input obtained from the sensor and the identity of the user to the remote server after determining that the opening of the door was intentional; and 
 downloading an updated version of the intentional door opening detection software from the remote server, wherein the updated version of the intentional door opening detection software is built by the remote server based on the input obtained from the sensor and the identity of the user. 
 
 
     
     
       8. The refrigerator appliance of  claim 7 , wherein the user input comprises an intentional door open mode selection received prior to detecting the opening of the door. 
     
     
       9. The refrigerator appliance of  claim 7 , wherein the controller is further operable for activating the door alarm after detecting the opening of the door, wherein the user input is received after activating the door alarm. 
     
     
       10. The refrigerator appliance of  claim 7 , wherein the controller is further operable for detecting a subsequent opening of the door after downloading the updated version of the intentional door opening detection software from the remote server, obtaining a second input with the sensor after detecting the subsequent opening of the door, and determining that the subsequent opening of the door was intentional, wherein the controller is operable for determining that the subsequent opening of the door was intentional by analyzing the second input obtained from the sensor with the updated version of the intentional door opening detection software. 
     
     
       11. The refrigerator appliance of  claim 7 , wherein the camera assembly is positioned and configured for monitoring the food storage chamber and an area in front of the cabinet that is contiguous with the food storage chamber. 
     
     
       12. The refrigerator appliance of  claim 11 , wherein the camera assembly comprises an infrared camera.